MV Hondius Hantavirus Outbreak: US Authorities Track Missing Passengers After Deaths

3 min readUpdated: May 7, 2026 06:07 PM IST

The United States is among the countries which is closely monitoring passengers who travelled on MV Hondius cruise ship which is at the centre of a deadly hantavirus outbreak.

US authorities tracking passengers after deadly outbreak

After the suspected death of three people and infections spreading to at least five others, the luxury cruise is now sailing towards Spain’s Canary Islands after pausing for three days near Cape Verde off the West African coast. On Thursday, a woman reportedly contracted the hantavirus who had not been a passenger on the ship.

Dozens exited cruise ship without contact tracing

Ship operator and Dutch officials have revealed that over two dozen passengers exited the MV Hondius cruise after it was reported that hantavirus has spread on the ship on April 24 without contact tracing, AP reported. The revelation has concerned the authorities as it is believed that the virus could spread with travelers returning home.

The ship operator company said that 30 passengers exited the ship without contact tracing in St Helena, which included six Americans. The company said it was “working to establish” the whereabouts of those passengers who left the cruise on April 24 and has contacted each of them.

According to US authorities, one person who was onboard the cruise ship is at home in Arizona, while two others are in Georgia and an unknown number of people are back in California, but none of them were showing any symptoms of the rare hantavirus, NBC News reported.

Flight attendant tested as WHO says public risk remains low

A flight attendant was being tested for the deadly virus on Thursday at a hospital in the Netherlands, reports revealed. “I can confirm that a stewardess is in hospital now and she is being tested for the virus,” a Dutch health ministry spokesperson told NBC News.

Hantavirus, which mostly contracts through contact with rodents, has been declared as low risk to the public and any person-to-person contact is possible only through close personal contact, the World Health Organisation has said.

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